He says he’s replaced the head gasket,oil pan gasket, water pump, oil,coolant, belts and batteries. What does a blowby test consist of? What is B50? He’s asking 3995.00 for the bus. I was thinking more like $3250.00

He says heís replaced the head gasket,oil pan gasket, water pump, oil,coolant, belts and batteries. What does a blowby test consist of? What is B50? Heís asking 3995.00 for the bus. I was thinking more like $3250.00

On the side of the crankcase is a tube. It allows excess pressure to escape. The amount of gas escaping can be measured by attaching a simple meter.

If the rings and bores are showing any significant wear, the amount of gas escaping increases. That is called "Blow By". You will often see buses advertised as "not running, excessive blow-by".

What that means is that the engine is due an overhaul. Many bus engines can be overhauled without removing them from the frame. Engines like the Navistar DT360, 466, 530 and Cummins 8.3 are all examples.

The CATs, T444, 5.9s, etc, need to come out to be rebored.

B50 is the estimate of when 50% of engines will need this work done. For most bus engines that is in the range of 350 to 500 000 miles.

However, school buses that run daily routes are considered "severe-duty", and those numbers come down. At around 12-13000 hours on the meter, most of them are ready for a rebuild.

These are averages and apply to buses as a group, not to any individual bus. Yours might go half a million miles without issue, but on average it is likely to be close to benefiting from work.

Thanks for all the info. Iím hopefully buying it. Just trying to figure out insurance First.

If you need insurance help, add your location to your profile. People around your state may be able to offer up advice on how they made it happen. Progressive seems to be the go-to company. I have had them for over 10 years with no issues on my motorcycles. I recently put my car and truck on my policy as well. It's best to work with a local agent so shop around. Avoid the online drama with them. I went through it with my vehicles before going to an agent. Also, calling them will not be helpful either. As soon as you say a bus or RV conversion, they will reject your eligibility for a policy.